AfD Leads Polls Ahead of Saxony Anhalt State Election
5 sources across 3 countries · Germany · United Kingdom · Brazil
Who reported this
- Der Spiegel
- Sueddeutsche Zeitung
- The Guardian
- Financial Times
- Agencia Publica
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
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The far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is leading in opinion polls ahead of the state election in Saxony Anhalt on September 6. One poll from Infratest dimap for ARD places the AfD at 42 percent, while the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) trails at 22 percent. Other reports place the AfD as high as 43 percent. If these results hold, the AfD could potentially form its first ever regional government, although some analysts note that the party may still fall short of an absolute majority required for a sole government. Current governing parties include the CDU, SPD, and FDP.
In a recent TV duel, CDU Minister President Sven Schulze and AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund clashed over the party's vision for the future. Schulze criticized the AfD's views on women and their proposal to abolish compulsory schooling. He asserted that he has delivered results rather than just talking. Siegmund responded by claiming the CDU failed to implement policies that encourage people to have children and suggested the AfD is on the right path to making history.
While the AfD shows strong polling in the region, a nationwide Forsa poll for RTL and n tv indicates that a majority of German citizens reject several central AfD demands. Only 17 percent agreed that foreign doctors are often unsuitable due to cultural background, and only 24 percent supported the idea that teachers should not share their opinions during student discussions. However, there was more support for AfD positions regarding the church, with 44 percent agreeing that churches should not have a special status regarding state benefits and church taxes.
Perspectives on the AfD's rise vary by political lean. Center left sources frame the party's growth as a disaster or a violent shift toward ultranationalism, highlighting the party's focus on mass deportations and the erosion of the political firewall. Center sources describe the party as being within touching distance of a historic breakthrough in eastern Germany.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- These outlets frame the AfD's rise as a dangerous or disastrous trend driven by ultranationalism and a breakdown of democratic norms.
- Centre
- This outlet frames the event as a significant political breakthrough and a potential shift in regional governance.
Sources
- Left Agencia Publica: What it is like to live in Germany in elections that could hand governments to the AfD
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: Saxony-Anhalt: This is how Ulrich Siegmund and Sven Schulze fared in the TV duel
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: Majority rejects central AfD demands
- Centre Financial Times: Ulrich Siegmund and the eastern German state the AfD thinks it can win
- Centre-left Sueddeutsche Zeitung: Federal Politics: Schulze to Siegmund in TV Duel: "I have delivered and not blabbered"
- Centre-left The Guardian: My home state is set to hand a breakthrough to the German far right. It’s a disaster decades in the making | Marcus Böick
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.